Roberts Birds of South Africa by McLachlan, G.R. And R. Liversidge. Plates In Colour By Norman C.K. Lighton And Newman K.
Roberts Birds of South Africa (Premium Emerald Green Sixth Impression Copy)
A Strikingly Bound Ornithological Masterwork Featuring Enhanced Plates by Lighton and Newman
A Strikingly Bound Ornithological Masterwork Featuring Enhanced Plates by Lighton and Newman
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Roberts Birds of South Africa
- Author: G.R. McLachlan and R. Liversidge
- Publisher: The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town
- Publication Date: 1982
- ISBN-10: 0620031182
- Edition Details: Fourth Edition, Sixth Impression. Special Cloth Issue.
- Binding: Publisher's original deluxe emerald green cloth boards with bright, ornate gilt-stamped lettering and decorative accents across both the front face and the spine. Completed with an integrated silk place marker.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), 225 x 160 mm, xxxii + 660 pages. Fully illustrated with a vibrant colour frontispiece, 71 beautifully detailed colour plates, and integrated marginal line drawings alongside regional distribution maps. Features illustrated maps printed on the endpapers.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Binding: The distinctive emerald green cloth boards are remarkably bright and clean, with the intricate gilt lettering on the front face and spine remaining highly reflective and unrubbed. The cover exhibits only limited, minor signs of storage wear at the corners and base. The spine is completely straight, rigid, and structurally undamaged.
- Interior: The text block is robustly bound, tight, and completely square. Internal pages, marginal maps, and the extensive colour plate sections are clean, crisp, and completely free of heavy foxing, text highlighting, or dog-ears.
- Structural Extras: The original maps on the endpapers remain crisp and unblemished, and the red silk ribbon place marker is firmly attached.
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The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable (As Issued)
- Presentation: This specific emerald green cloth variant with heavy decorative gilt on the face was designed to be showcased directly and was issued without a traditional paper dust jacket. It is exceptionally well preserved and protected with a clear cellophane cover to guard the bright cloth and gilt from wear.
Synopsis & Historical Value
This celebrated 1982 printing represents a definitive technological milestone in the legacy of Austin Roberts’ foundational field guide. Revised by prominent experts G.R. McLachlan and R. Liversidge, the standout trait of this classic edition is the complete structural rearrangement and upgrade of its illustrative core. The book boasts thirty-one brand-new colour plates masterfully painted by the iconic wildlife artist Ken Newman. For the remaining plates, originally executed by Norman C.K. Lighton, individual bird figures were meticulously updated, added, or rearranged. Crucially, the figures were significantly enlarged by removing the traditional blank white borders, maximizing visual clarity for taxonomic identification. Featuring multi-language local terminology index sets, diagnostic keys, and precise regional marginal maps, this specific emerald green sixth impression is a striking, highly collectible copy for naturalists and bibliophiles alike.
This celebrated 1982 printing represents a definitive technological milestone in the legacy of Austin Roberts’ foundational field guide. Revised by prominent experts G.R. McLachlan and R. Liversidge, the standout trait of this classic edition is the complete structural rearrangement and upgrade of its illustrative core. The book boasts thirty-one brand-new colour plates masterfully painted by the iconic wildlife artist Ken Newman. For the remaining plates, originally executed by Norman C.K. Lighton, individual bird figures were meticulously updated, added, or rearranged. Crucially, the figures were significantly enlarged by removing the traditional blank white borders, maximizing visual clarity for taxonomic identification. Featuring multi-language local terminology index sets, diagnostic keys, and precise regional marginal maps, this specific emerald green sixth impression is a striking, highly collectible copy for naturalists and bibliophiles alike.
Author Profile: G.R. McLachlan and R. Liversidge
Dr Geoffrey Roy McLachlan and Dr Richard Liversidge were two of the most distinguished pillars of 20th-century South African ornithology. Dr Liversidge (1926–2002), an acclaimed biologist, served extensively as the Director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley and published foundational ecological studies on the avian fauna of the Karoo. Dr McLachlan was a highly respected herpetologist and ornithologist affiliated with the Port Elizabeth Museum. Together, they were selected by the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund to undertake the sweeping revisions of the second, third, and fourth editions of Roberts Birds. Their combined academic rigor preserved Austin Roberts’ classic observations while steering the work into a modernized, scientifically precise layout that educated generations of African field researchers.
Dr Geoffrey Roy McLachlan and Dr Richard Liversidge were two of the most distinguished pillars of 20th-century South African ornithology. Dr Liversidge (1926–2002), an acclaimed biologist, served extensively as the Director of the McGregor Museum in Kimberley and published foundational ecological studies on the avian fauna of the Karoo. Dr McLachlan was a highly respected herpetologist and ornithologist affiliated with the Port Elizabeth Museum. Together, they were selected by the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund to undertake the sweeping revisions of the second, third, and fourth editions of Roberts Birds. Their combined academic rigor preserved Austin Roberts’ classic observations while steering the work into a modernized, scientifically precise layout that educated generations of African field researchers.
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